


Rubyfruit in june

by MorteMistrata



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, Lesbians in Space, Pining, Quest to find more Alteans, space lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 19:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11424813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MorteMistrata/pseuds/MorteMistrata
Summary: Pidge has never connected well with people. Machines are so much easier to understand than people and all their pesky feelings. But now it seems like she's the one who's caught a case of the feelings, and for a princess no less! Along with her burgeoning crush, Pidge has to focus her efforts on their newest mission: tracking down what remains of the Altean people.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've been dying for some Pallura that isn't a background ship of some sort, so I decided to write it myself. Feel free to chime in with head cannons and suggestions if you have any. Comments are chapter fuel, and thanks for reading.

The sky is a dying red that fades into the black of night near the horizon. Buildings, jagged and broken, almost seem to impale the sky. It’s a pretty scene, one that would’ve been prettier if the buildings were intact, if the city wasn't deathly quiet and covered in ashes.

 

Allura stops at the top of the hill. The grass is still green here, although the top foot of it has been signed away, allowing her to stand in it comfortably. Lance and Keith don't notice; they’re still talking, arguing about who won their little race down. Hunk is lingering in the greenery, probably looking for edible plants as Shiro and Coran head into the ruins to look for those parts for the castle. 

 

Pidge hadn't been given an assignment, and there’s nothing here that really interests her, so she stays back too. Well, that's not exactly true. She could technically be scavenging for new tech to help finish her Rover 2.0, as new parts are a rare commodity with their limited funds and all, but Allura is a commodity of her own. She can feel the grass poking at her ankles as she wades through it to stand beside Allura. 

 

“It’s kinda pretty, isn't it? Kinda looks like some burnt out circuitry or something.” Pidge comments idly. And the ruined city kinda does. The buildings are a shining black, and the designs on them are geometrical in a sense, and call to mind the inside of a droid. 

 

Allura reminds her of machinery too. Slick and smooth and modern like most of the tech she’s seen out here. Beautiful in both her complexity and her simplicity. 

 

She thinks of telling Allura that, but thinks better of it. For her, machines are the most beautiful things in the world, so it’s natural for her to come up with such a comparison, but to others, it can often sound weird. Years of rejection have dug that point into her.

 

Pidge looks up to Allura, hoping to see a grin or at least the beginnings of a smile. Instead, Allura scowls and crosses her arms. “It’s not pretty, Pidge. It’s a place of Genocide.” She gestures to the buildings. “Those used to house Altean people, thousands of them and they’re all dead.”

 

“I-” Pidge starts to apologize, but Allura hardly notices, she’s so caught up in her rant.

 

“They were killed in their beds, beside their children and next to their mates with no warning and not a chance to fight back. This. Scene. Is. Not. Pretty.” Allura finishes, each word enunciated with cold intent.

 

Pidge stares at her. Her skin is flushed, tinting her cheeks and ears blue. A curl of white hair sticks to her forehead, plastered there by  angry sweat. “I'm sorry.” She repeats. “I-I hadn't thought of that.”

 

Allura exhales heavily, and the blush recedes. “No, no. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. They’ve been dead for millennia. I have no reason to be so offended.” 

 

Pidge shrugs and sticks her hands in her pockets. Her thumbnail jams into her phone, and she winces at the slight sting. “When my dad and my brother went missing, I was really defensive about it. I for into three- no, four fights with other kids because they said that it was Shiro’s fault, or that my dad was too stupid to supervise a mission. Their indifference hurt. They didn’t even seem to care what they were saying, even when they knew who I was. I get why you got mad. I’m sorry.”

 

“I suppose we both have things to be defensive over.” Allura says, offering Pidge a conceding smile. She looks back at the city. “Going into the actual city would have been harder than I could bare. Seeing what could have been…” She trails off. “What do you think that building was for?” She says, pointing to a small, squat little building on the edge of the city. 

 

Pidge stares at it. The building doesn't have the same microchip like patterns on it, and instead seems to be unaffected by whatever had hit the city. “A lesbian couple lived there.” 

 

“Lesbian?”

 

“Two women in a romantic relationship.” Pidge clarifies. 

 

Allura nods thoughtfully. “We didn't use labels like that to describe romantic relationships, but yes, go on.”

 

Pidge takes a seat on the grass, and finds it surprisingly soft against the seat of her pants. Allura drapes her skirt under legs and sits beside her. “They ran a store there for, um….”

 

“Flowers.” Allura supplies.

 

Pidge nods, and traces circles in the grass. “A flower shop. They sold flower crowns.”

 

“Did they get married? Have kids?” Allura probes. 

 

Pidge wonders if Altean women can have kids together, or if she meant adoption. It would be interesting if they could. How would reproduction for that work exactly? Obviously Allura is mammalian, since she has boobs and all, but-

 

“Pidge?”

 

“Right, um, no kids. They didn't want them; they were bad at kids. And they wanted to get married, but um,” Pidge whispers behind her hand conspiratorially, which elicits a giggle from Allura. “I dunno how Altean weddings work. So it’s your turn now.”

 

Allura taps her chin. “Normal weddings include fancy attire-”

 

“Which was too expensive for our lesbian couple with their flower shop budget.”

 

“And an ornamental battle to prove their worthiness for each other, to symbolise that they will fight for each other no matter what life throws at them. This, of course, requires special made custom weapons.”

 

“Which they also can’t afford.”

 

“But they were saving for it.” Allura adds with a smile.

 

“Yeah.” Pidge nods. She looks away from from Allura and to her feet. “Do you ever think of marriage?”

 

Allura laughs. “Quiznack, no. Courtship perhaps, but not marriage.”

 

Pidge probably shouldn’t ask. She shouldn’t tease herself like that, with the idea of ‘courtship', since she has neither the guts to ask nor a chance with her, but she does anyways. “How does courtship work?”

 

A shy blush crawls onto Allura’s cheeks. “Tell me about how yours works.”

 

“Person A asks Person B to go on a date and they go somewhere and do something together that’s fun for them both.” Pidge doesn't bother adding in the pre-dating flirting or messaging in her description. 

 

Allura offers Pidge a small smile, and opens her mouth to reply, just as Lance and Keith come running back up the hill.

 

“We found a thing!” Keith yells, holding a white rectangular container in his arms. 

 

Lance raises another one, identical except in color. It’s almost the same color as his suit. “No,  _ I  _ found a thing! Two things!”

 

Pidge sighs. Now how is she gonna learn about how Altean girls date? This is the only time something like this has come up so naturally in conversation. 

 

She gets to her feet, and offers Allura a hand. Allura takes it, but doesn’t actually put any weight into her grasp.

They wait patiently as Keith and Lance climb up, holding their boxes out like prizes. Lance drops his at Allura’s feet and plops onto the ground, chest heaving as he attempts to catch his breath. 

 

Pidge squats down and pulls off the lid. Inside rests a collection of tablets, undeniably familiar, but also different in a way. Sleeker, shinier than the castle’s counterpart. “These are Altean, aren't they, Princess?” She passes one to Allura, who takes it gingerly.

 

The screen lights up at her touch, and a hologram projects of of the screen. A man with pale skin and lavender eyes smiles at them.

 

“Hello, fellow Altean. If you have found this, it is likely because this colony has been destroyed. No need to fear.” The screen flattens into 2D and a star map appears, full of blinking lights. “Many other colonies are still thriving. Just in case they are not, we have stored several boxes of tablets with data about both our colony’s history, and that of Altea as a whole.”

 

A solitary tear runs down Allura’s cheek. She attempts to stifle a sob by covering her mouth with her hand, but the sound escapes it anyways. Lance and Keith do not meet her eyes, but Pidge watches her carefully, unsure if she’s taking the information well.

 

“Praise be to our last king, and our lost Princess Allura, and the best of luck.” The man says, accompanied with an odd salute. The last thing they see from him is a happy grin before the screen blanks out.

 

The four of them stand there in silence, waiting for Allura to break it.

 

“There are more of us.” She whispers, her eyes distant. A grin settles on her lips, and Pidge can't help but to mirror it. “Altea isn't dead.”

 

“All we have to do is find them, Princess.” Pidge says.

 

Allura turns away from the dead city and grabs Pidge by her shoulders. Her grip is firm, but not painfully so, and although the contact makes her stomach feel funny, she doesn’t protest as Allura repeats excitedly, “Altea isn’t dead!” She draws Pidge into her arms and suddenly, she’s being hugged, her face pressed into her chest, right beneath her boobs. “Oh, Pidge! There’s others out there. Me and Coran, we- we’re not the last of us.”

 

“Yay,” Pidge repeats, her voice muffled by Allura’s bust.

 

“Oh,” Allura says, drawing back. “I apologize, I just-” She cuts herself off with a grin. “I don't believe I've ever been so happy before.”

 

Pidge can't recall her being as excited as this before either. Not even when they progress more than normal in training. Not even when Voltron wins a battle. Not even with her.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Allura stares at the coordinates on the console. There's more than a hundred of them. A hundred possible places that her people can be. They can't afford to look for them forever; as the defenders of the universe, they still have a duty to the rest of the universe to take down Zarkon’s empire. It’ll be a slow process, she knows that, and each destination that they reach is a gamble; will anyone be alive when they get there, or will it be just another mass grave?

She’s already held off on doing missions for nearly two quintants; if she plans to check out something, she’ll have to decide on a location soon. But how can she? What if she picks the wrong one?

Pidge lingers at the door, fingering the fraying threads at the bottom of her sweater silently. Allura’s noticed that she's been avoiding her lately, although she can't tell why. Every time that they are left alone together, Pidge finds an excuse to leave, no matter what Allura says in her clumsy attempts to persuade her to stay. She finds a smile lifting her lips as she turns from the console.

“Yes, Pidge?” 

Pidge drops her hem and taps her thigh. “I, um, I just wanted to see- I mean, I wanted to ask, um,” Pidge hasn't been so nervous talking to her since she’d first come to her after that lead about her brother had failed, crying, and trying her best not to, Allura notes. Pidge takes a deep breath. “I wanted to ask if you’re okay, and if you need any help.”

Allura’s okay, of course she's okay. Why wouldn't she be? Staying holed up in the bridge for a couple of Quintants isn't any different than Lance’s day long naps, or Pidge’s bursts of creativity, when she spends forever in her lab tinkering on a project or two. “I'm fine.” She says, her voice steeled.

Pidge flinches, and her hands curl into fists. “Okay. Fine. I'll leave you to it.”

As she turns to go, Allura feels her ears go hot. She hadn't meant to send her away; it was merely her instinct to get defensive when people begin to question her too much. She dashes forward, and grabs her arm. “Wait, Pidge,” She swallows. “I'm sorry. I just, I don't know what to do.”

Pidge visibly relaxes, her shoulders sagging like her apology excuses her behavior. She offers a smile, like a truce offered between them. “It’s alright. You’re stressed, and besides, I've said worse.”

“Still, I'm sorry.” Allura says, dropping her grip. “Would you mind?” She gestures towards the console, with its map of coordinates and information about them sprawled beyond the screen and into the air around it. “I could use your insight.”

Pidge nods and follows her over to the console. The data has been translated into universal glyphs, the language that the Paladins are learning, and organized into a list of best to worst prospects. At the top of the list is three locations that are equally close, and equally likely to be either dead or alive. 

Pidge taps her nails on the keyboard, as she leans forward, reading, thinking. “How old is this data?”

Allura crosses her arms. Probably over ten thousand years old. They’d had no reason to update information on supposedly uninhabited planets, and so had skimped over them during their last data exchange. “As old as me.”

Pidge snorts. “Alright, fair enough.” She enlarges one of the data cluster’s and squints. “This one is probably not worth checking out. Their star had been approaching supernova since way before the war was a concern.” She scrolls to the side, and taps one of the other ones. “This one is close to a Galran trade route, and while it’s possible that they’re fine. I don’t know if we should bother. We still have repairs to do, and I don’t know that the castle will hold up for another battle.”

“So number three?”

“Best bet.”

Allura presses the bundle of coordinates, and takes over the console once more. “Thank you.” She says, as she presses her hands to the guidestones. 

Pidge is already heading towards the door. “You’re welcome, Princess.”


End file.
